BASKETBALL: Sylvia Fowles had 17 points and 14 rebounds and No. 7 LSU (21-3, 9-0) grabbed the Southeastern Conference lead with a 78-62 win over top-ranked Tennessee. Candace Parker led Tennessee (22-2, 8-1) with 26 points. HOCKEY: Brett Sterling scored two goals, including the game-winner 68 seconds into overtime, to send the visiting Wolves to their sixth straight win, a 3-2 victory over the Admirals in Milwaukee. Sterling has a franchise-record four overtime goals this season.

Five MRIs down and one to go for Monica Seles. One more encouraging examination of her tortured left foot, probably this week, and she's cleared to get back on the courts. The short-range plan is to reappear in public on March 22 in Richmond, Va., for an exhibition against Martina Navratilova. The longer-range plan is to end a nearly one-year absence from the WTA Tour one or two weeks before the French Open, which begins May 26. "My first hurdle is a healthy MRI. I've been in a cast for about two months, and now I've moved into a soft cast," Seles said.

New York's highest court declined to hear an appeal by Martina Hingis, who claimed an Italian sportswear maker's sneakers injured her feet. The Court of Appeals' refusal to hear the case upholds a lower court's dismissal of Hingis' $40 million suit against apparel maker Sergio Tacchini. State Supreme Court Justice Sherry Klein Heitler tossed out Hingis' original lawsuit last September, saying New York was the wrong place to try the case because similar litigation between Hingis, 22, and the company is pending in Milan, Italy.

Monica Seles quit during her second-round match Wednesday at the Italian Open with an injury to her left foot that could force her to decide if she wants to keep playing competitively. Seles had dropped the first set 6-3 and was down 4-1 in the second at Rome when she stopped playing Nadia Petrova. She said she still hopes to play in the French Open, which starts May 26. "If it can get better, I'll take a little bit more time off," said Seles, 29. "If it's not, then I have to make a decision to stop."

Defending champion Serena Williams had her serve broken twice in the first set but still managed to beat Czech qualifier Klara Koukalova 6-4, 6-3 at the Italian Open in Rome. Monica Seles had to rally for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory against 46th-ranked Myriam Casanova. - Lleyton Hewitt withstood a strong challenge to start his clay-court season, beating German wild card Markus Hantschk 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the second round of the Hamburg Masters. - Goran Ivanisevic pulled out of the French Open with a foot injury.